Rain, mud, and a challenging set of man-made hills are the hallmarks of NXN and the Portland Meadows course.
Great Outdoor Provision Co. presents the Featured Meet of Week 16:
Nike Cross Nationals
(Saturday, Portland Meadows, Portland, Oregon)
The Meet
In 2004, Nike launched a new cross country postseason meet intended to complement what were then Nike Indoor and Nike Outdoor Nationals. Originally called Nike Team Nationals, the clear intent was to provide a team alternative to the all-individual Foot Locker Nationals. The first winners were national powers Saratoga Springs (NY) and Troy (IL). The current format of the meet began in 2008, when the name was changed and the individual qualifiers from each region were added. The meet also features an open race, in which athletes who pay their own way can run (often the 8th or deeper runners for the qualifying teams). For a time, Nike also flew in a team of Kenyan high-schoolers to compete in the open race, but that practice has ended. The defending boys' champions, Christian Brothers (NJ), are back to compete for another title, as are the six-time defending girls' champions, Fayetteville-Manlius (NY). In 2010, the F-M girls scored a remarkable 27 points, with the entire rest of the field scoring 30 combined (not including individual competitors). You can find more history on Nike Cross Nationals here.
(Meet history, course map, previews)
Meet Records
(From the MileSplit database)
The Course
Portland Meadows is actually a horse track, with the course built into the infield. Billed as a "European-style" cross country course, it provides the unique experience of having the entire race within the confines of a single stadium. The runners make two full loops plus about one-third more, and during each loop they face man-made obstacles: two sets of hay bales, plus a series of artificial, dirt-bike-style hills. The course is also famed for its mud, given the rainly weather that is native to the Pacific Northwest; the individual winning girls time has been above 18 minutes for five of the eight races in the meet's history, and no boy has ever broken 15 on the course. This will be a fun video course walk to bring back with me!
Course Records
(From the MileSplit database)
Things to Do Outdoors in Portland, Oregon
Just in case anyone is planning on popping out to the West Coast for the weekend, check out the amazing range of activities available just in the city itself, not including the surrounding areas.